"Bagheera"

A/N Note: Mowgli is around thirteen years old.

Inspired by historical events and the song "Brave" by Riley Pearce


-Dedicated to Sebastian Cabot-


Prologue:

Across the riverbank past the wild bushes nestled in a clearing was the village made of straw thatched roofs and wooden houses. A young girl clad in a pink gown and a lavender bindi, carried an empty clay vase on her shoulder safely securing it with her arm. In a voice reminiscent of the morning she sang a lullaby of which Mowgli could not understand. It was as if she were speaking an entirely new language, one that was not of animal or human (as far as he knew), but nevertheless beautiful to the man cub's ears. Bagheera, who sat beside the boy, looked into his eyes and smiled, for the panther knew as he always had, that one day there would be love and if anything, it would be love that would lead Mowgli to where he needed to be.

"Bagheera," Mowgli said, looking at the girl, entranced by her beauty, "what exactly are we looking at?"

"A female, one of your own kind." Bagheera answered promptly. "It is her and her people you must journey on with now."

The boy looked at his friend for a moment, noticing that the panther was not joking, was not being foolish, and was certainly not playing poker face. Bagheera stood on all four of his paws and looked at Mowgli with eyes full of bittersweet. Despite having known of this day from the beginning, Bagheera secretly wished that this day did not have to come so soon, so quickly.

I have dreamt of this many times. Bagheera thought as he returned his gaze to the girl who at this point was filling the vase with mosquito cholera filled water that will have to be purified and cleansed before consumption. Nevertheless, she was smiling and humming while doing the work as the sounds of jungle birds filled the hot afternoon with sweet songs of moving on and cherished memories.

Mowgli climbed up a small tree to get a better look at this female of his own kind whom he had never seen before. To him, she was the most beautiful creature in all the earth and he wanted to know more about the song she was singing, why she was carrying the clay vase and filling it with water, and why her father and mother were so demanding of her. All the wonders in Mowgli's head were answered the instant the girl stood up and lost the vase's balance, sending all of the water collected and the vase itself into the river.

Bending down and sighing, the girl did not take sight of the boy who emerged from the bushes who silently waded in the river and assisted her by retrieving the vase and filling it with water again, all she saw was the filled vase and a naïve smile across a face. The girl laughed and took the vase from Mowgli watching his innocent eyes traverse through the world of man for the first time in his life. For a moment they stood there looking at each other and for a moment Bagheera was the proudest panther in the jungle.

Thank the heavens for you, sweet girl. You have saved the man cub's life. The panther thought as his whiskers twitched from anticipation and his eyes were prepped for the final look he would receive. Bagheera's tail slowly swept the moist ground, clearing away moss and dirt for some useless reason.

Mowgli exited the river from the other side and carried the vase for the girl who smiled and coaxed him inside the world of humanity. Nevertheless, the man cub looked back when he reached the gate, smiled sheepishly and sat the vase down a moment. Mowgli walked back to the bank, crossed the river again and embraced Bagheera a final time, digging his face in the panther's thick fur. The panther in turn, caressed Mowgli by rubbing his head against the boy's back and slightly reaching his left forepaw across Mowgli's back, embraced the man cub a final time. Bagheera's dream was now coming true, and without realizing it, the panther purred sadly and produced a tear. Mowgli let Bagheera go, and Bagheera naturally reverted back to sitting down on the jungle floor.

"Thank you Bagheera," Mowgli said, "for keeping me alive all these years."

"You were worth keeping alive." Bagheera replied.

The Panther put on a brave face and watched Mowgli cross the water, disappear beyond the gates, and close them. Bagheera turned away and decided the best way to shield his grief was to speed into the jungle: through the brush, into the trees, past the wild flowers and feral waterfalls, into the wolf cliffs and over the river where his journey with Mowgli began those many years ago...